Food casings of the type that can be used in accordance with this invention are usually stuffed with such food items by the use of mechanical equipment. A first end of the food casing is closed and the open or second end is placed over a horn or outlet means from which the food item is ejected under pressure until the food casing is stuffed. The closed end of the food casing must, therefore, be strong enough to withstand the stuffing pressure and also be sufficiently secured so that no food will escape therefrom during stuffing. The second end of the thusly stuffed food casing is then closed and the encased food product further processed in conventional apparatus, such as cooking ovens, smoke houses and the like, where the stuffed food product is cooked and cured and then stored until ready for use or further processing. In general, one end closure of the casing is provided with a looped hanger, such as stout twine, to suspend the stuffed food casing thereby during the processing and storage period. The looped hanger is usually made as an integral part of the first end casing closure.
In present manufacturing methods, these lengths of cured and cooked food products, which can be over 5 feet in length and weigh more than 40 pounds, are then cut transversely into slices of equal thickness and weight, either before or after removing the food casing therefrom, and are then packaged and sold through retail outlets in today's commercial market places.
In accordance with conventional practice, the first end closure is made on the flattened food casings when they are dry. These food casings are then soaked in water before being stuffed in order to render them more pliable during stuffing. The methods presently employed to close one end of a food casing and provide a hanger loop for said closed end use string, twine, cupclips and the like as is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,462,957, 2,760,226, 3,565,640, 3,575,339 and 3,943,606. During the soaking of those food casings provided with loops of string or twine, the loops often become knotted and tangled and must be manually unraveled before the casing is stuffed or, in any event, before the stuffed food casing is suspended for subsequent processing, curing and cooking.
Since industry is now tending to demand longer and heavier encased food products, attachment of a suitable suspension means to these food casings is becoming increasingly more important. Obviously, suspension means which tend to damage the casing wall so that the casing breaks or suspension means which break or become separated from the encased food products during handling and processing results in waste.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,483,801 discloses an apparatus and method for producing a loop hanger closure for an unstuffed casing, said loop hanger having free ends positioned adjacent to a pleated end of the casing and being secured to said pleated end by a resilient wire clip. The free ends of the hanger loop have beads thereon which coact with the resilient wire clip to form an anchoring means for the hanger loop by which the casing can be suspended. Although this type of casing closure provides an effective loop hanger for casings, it has the disadvantage in that the free ends of the hanger loop have to terminate in beads, nubs, knobs, or the like.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,214,883, 3,237,290, 3,279,033, 3,368,322 and 3,455,010 all disclose apparatus for closing and tying bags using wire straps or clips.
In U.S. application Ser. No. 706,353, filed on July 19, 1976 and assigned to the same assignee as the subject invention, a stuffed casing is disclosed having a combination end closure and tape loop hanger of the kind that can be produced using the apparatus and method of this invention.
An object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus for sealing a casing with a combination end closure and loop hanger that is economical to make and which is capable of supporting a product within said casing for an extended period of time as, for example, during subsequent processing and handling.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus that is adaptable for coupling to conventional clipping devices so that together they will be able to effectively secure a loop hanger to the end of a casing using a clip.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an apparatus and method for securing a tape loop hanger at the gathered end of a stuffed or unstuffed casing using a substantially U-shaped clip.